1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for tubular handling for well drilling operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
The drilling and production operation involves various tubular elements including drill pipe, drill collars, production tubing, well casing, bottom hole assembly, and riser pipe. These tubulars are moved to/from storage location to well center and/or the mousehole. The tubulars could be stored horizontally alongside the drilling rig and/or the tubulars could rest vertical on the drill floor. During operations tubulars stored horizontally alongside the drilling rig are transported, up to the rig floor, and rotated vertical, where they are added to the drill string or mousehole. This process is reversed to return the tubular to the horizontal storage location. The tubulars that are stored vertical are picked up off the drill floor and the lower end of the tubular is swung to/from the well center or mousehole.
During handling tubulars from the storage locations to/from the well center and/or mousehole, an elevator is attached to the top portion of the tubular to lift the tubular above the drill floor. While the top portion of the tubular is lifted above the drill floor the lower portion of the pipe is manually positioned to the desired location being well center, mousehole, or storage location. Because the lower end of the tubular is hanging freely and unsupported, this task often presents a hazard to the personnel on the drill floor as they try to maneuver the tubular to the desired location. A rope is often used to manually guide the lower portion of the tubular to the desired location.
There are devices for positioning the lower end of the tubular to well center. These devices have limited capability due to limited reach or movement. Some can only position tubulars from the edge of the drill floor to well center while others can only position the tubular once it is located very close to well center. These devices have not seen successful utilization to any extent in the drilling operations. These devices have disadvantages: limited capability; they are complex in nature, thus expensive; difficult to install and operate; hard to transport; and provide unsatisfactory results.
Therefore, an improved method and apparatus for handling tubulars to/from storage locations to well center and/or the mousehole is needed.